Stamfordite Sandra Calhoune breaks into romance fiction field

Joe Meyers

Published 3:11 pm, Thursday, May 1, 2014

After enjoying romance novels much of her life, Stamford resident Sandra Calhoune decided to pursue her dream of trading her 9 to 5 job for a new career as a novelist.

Harlequin published Calhoune's first novel, "Reunited with the Sheriff," last year and her second book, "Forever Her Hero," has just been published under the Harlequin imprint Love Inspired.

The former federal investigator decided to write under the pen name "Belle Calhoune" in order to set herself apart from two other Sandras who were already published by Harlequin.

In a phone interview last week, Calhoune said she finally decided to sit down and write when she stopped working after her second daughter was born.

"I had a bunch of time on my hands. Before I always had the fear of what I would do if someone (in publishing) slammed the door on me," Calhoune said, adding that the real motivation came when she discovered that Harlequin had an online community for aspiring writers.

"They conduct pitch sessions where you send ideas to editors," she said, adding that she received encouragement with her first suggestion, and then began submitting chapters to Harlequin.

Before she knew it, Calhoune had a finished first novel, Harlequin said "yes" and she set to work on book two.

The author said it has taken her a while to get used to the long lag time between acceptance of a manuscript and the actual publication of a book -- a process that can take up to a year.

"There's lots of waiting time, but I decided to keep the forward motion going," she said of the completion of a third novel, which will be one of two Harlequin books by her in 2015.

"It's about name building and brand building by someone who is new to the line," Calhoune said of writing for the Love Inspired division of Harlequin, which focuses on inspirational romance, rather than steamy "50 Shades of Grey" bedroom antics.

"Forever Her Hero" is set on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and follows the reunion between a Coast Guard officer and the childhood pal he always adored. When Ada becomes a widow with two young children, the old friends become close again.

Calhoune said one of the challenges of her new career is making time for her own reading.

"There is such a correlation between being a reader and a writer, but you really don't have time to read while you're writing. But I realize I have to make time because that is the only way you learn and grow in your craft," she said of such favorite novelists as Sandra Brown.

When he founded the annual award for U.S. and Canadian writers in 1986, Michael Rea -- a short story writer himself -- said, "The basic thrust of the award is to foster a literary cause, to ennoble the form, to give it prestige."

The citation for Spencer noted that she "is a permanent and treasured part of the American short story vocabulary. Her stories sparkle with acute and often startling intelligence. They are alert to the otherwise unobserved, vital nuances of our most secret selves."

Spencer is the author of eight short story collections and nine novels. This year's "Starting Over" is the writer's most recent collection of stories. Spencer's story, "The Light in the Piazza," inspired both a 1960 film with Olivia de Havilland and the hit 2005 Broadway musical.

Rea, who died in 1996, always telephoned the prize winner to break the news personally. This tradition is continued by his widow, Elizabeth Richebourg Rea.